MAW
by Uncapped Ink
Summary: After leaving Xavier's school, Liam Kynde forms his own team to combat the daily horrors that mutants face. Along with Mercury, Husk, and Pixie, they hunt down any threat to mutants, and end it. Sequel to Becoming X
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One****  
****Slane Castle, County Meath, Ireland****  
****February 16, 0700 hours (local time)**

After spending all of Valentine's Day in the airport, and then a seven hour flight over the Atlantic, plus an hour in customs, it felt good to be out on the open road. Granted, Emma had gotten him a first class ticket into Dublin, but six hours in a plane to anywhere was a long time, no matter how nice the accommodations. Liam sat in the driver seat of a black Audi Q7. He'd wanted a truck of some sort, but the closest the rental company had been able to get him was a luxury SUV.

As he sped along the highway towards his new home, he was thankful for the car's heater. The car's digital dashboard told him that the outside temperature was near thirty degrees Fahrenheit, and the wind chill was down into the twenties. Liam almost regretted nearing his destination, since it meant that he'd have to leave his cocoon of warmth and soft Pogues music. He made a left onto his new drive, and had to smile a little when the tires of the SUV threw gravel into the undercarriage. There was something about skidding across the ground in a luxury vehicle that was perversely pleasing.

He slowed to a stop at the heavy iron gates that were set into the tall stone wall that surrounded the castle, and pulled out his cell phone.

"Pope." came the answer to his call.

"Hey. It's Kynde. I'm at the gate."

"Wait one, Sarge." Pope said, hanging up without saying goodbye.

A few seconds later, the gate rumbled open, and Liam drove down the sloping drive towards the castle's front door. As he pulled up and shut off the SUV's engine, Thomas Pope opened the door, and smiled. He wore a pair of faded jeans and a thick thermal shirt with heavy boots. Strapped to his left thigh was a tactical holster, holding a matte black Colt 1911, and an M4 carbine hung off of his shoulder.

"Goddamned good to see you, Sarge." Pope said, coming down the front steps as Liam stepped out of the car into the biting cold wind.

"What the fuck, Specialist?" Liam asked, gesturing to Pope's medium length hair. "What? Are you a fuckin' hippie now?"

"That's fuckin' Sergeant to you, Sarge. Got my buck stripes just before I got out." Pope said, opening his arms wide and letting his weapon swing free.

Liam wrapped his arms around Pope, clapping him on the back.

"Congratu –fuckin'-lations, Fuckin' Sarge Junior. I always knew you'd wind up taking my spot one day, but you'll always be a Speck to me."

Pope snorted and pulled back, both men heading for the rear of the vehicle to unload Liam's bags.

"At ease that fuckin' noise. Take your job and have to put up with snot nosed Privates and Specks like me all fuckin' day? Fuck that shit." Pope chuckled.

Liam opened the rear of the Audi and reached inside, grabbing one bag, and handed it to Pope. He grabbed the other bag and the wooden box that Emma had left him. He closed the back of the vehicle, and followed Pope up the steps to the large oak front doors.

"Well, we're pretty much set up here, Sarge. All the construction you wanted is done. Gym, firing range, fully stocked armory, war room, dorms. The works." Pope said. "Wireless is set, and covers the whole structure. Tech room is insane. You've gotta see it. Only thing we're waiting on is transport."

Liam followed the younger Ranger into the castle, and took a look around. He stood in a grand hall, which had been partially demolished and refinished. Where the ground floor of the castle had once housed only a grand hall, ballroom, and feast hall, it now held an indoor gym, with weight and cardio machines of every kind. On the other side of the gym was a floor to ceiling concrete wall, on the other side of which was an indoor firing range. Four towers cornered the building, holding a kitchen, dining room, research center, and armory. The second and third floors had been converted into dorms, with eight rooms each, and each room was designed for permanent occupancy of eight people, though each room was large enough to sleep well over double that number.

"Place looks good, Pope. Really good."

Pope smirked at him.

"You expected less?"

Liam shook his head.

"Not really."

"Come on. I'll show you to your room. Sorry, it isn't much. I wasn't expecting you for another month, but it should do for what you need." Pope said, heading left, towards a thick set of stone stairs. "I'd imagine you're looking forward to a nap."

Liam nodded.

"Jet lag's a bitch."

Slane Castle, County Meath, Ireland  
February 16, 1826 hours

Liam and Pope sat in the war room, each eating an MRE. Pope had yet to stock the kitchen fully, and so they'd decided to share a meal of MREs for the evening, rather than driving back into town for food. Both men held their plastic spoons in one hand and their pack of spaghetti with meat sauce in the other, eating in silence. Neither one used the chemical warmer for their food, preferring it cold. One of the things trained into them in Ranger School had been light, noise, and head discipline, and so most Rangers, even when given the option, chose to eat their MREs cold, often stating that the heated entrées tasted funny when warmed.

Both men sat on the edge of the, hunched over the world map projected onto the table. They had a map of Buenos Aires, Argentina zoomed in, and were considering entry and exit strategies for the team's first potential mission. They were going to attack an old Purifier stronghold that had been taken over by a relatively small local mutant hating group. Of course, this would happen sometime in the next month, since Cessily and Megan still had to receive their instructions and travel to the castle.

"So what do you think, Sarge? We've only got one squad. It's gonna be tough getting in without any coverage." Pope said, finishing his spaghetti and placing the empty pack back into the larger MRE bag. "Divide and conquer? Hit them from multiple angles simultaneously?"

Liam smiled and shook his head, setting his empty packet aside and taking a drink of water.

"We've got some of the best students I've ever trained coming in. This'll be child's play. You'll see." he said. "As far as insertion, I've got something a little more fun in mind. How are your airborne skills holding up, now that you're out?"

"Airborne's kinda hard to screw up. Like falling off of a bike, right?" Pope said, grinning. "Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door. Jump right out and count to four."

Liam opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a female voice echoing down the hallway towards them.

"Hello?"

Both men's hands automatically went to their sidearms, which was one of the things that Liam had insisted on, now that he was away from the school. It was nice to be armed at all times again. Before the echo faded, Liam had pulled one of the two brand new Colt 1911 pistols that Emma had sent him off with from its holster, and Pope held a Beretta 92F. They both moved quickly across the room, towards the gym, which the front door opened onto. Moving one at a time, they crept down the hallway towards the gym, weapons raised and ready. Just before he stepped into the gym, Liam saw a young blonde woman step into the gym area, looking around with a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

"Stop. Don't move." Liam called, aiming carefully down the top rail of his weapon.

She froze, but turned her head slowly to look at him. From beneath the low pulled brim of her battered black cowboy hat her blue eyes fixed him with a disinterested stare. She wore a light brown coat, jeans, and a long sleeved shirt.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Nice to meet ya too." she said, raising one hand. "Ya don't want to shoot those."

"What are you doing here, girl? I won't ask again." Liam said.

She sighed and slid her bag off of her shoulder with her free hand. She let it drop to the floor, and then reached behind herself. Liam heard the report of Pope's Beretta just before he felt the shockwave hit him in the chest. It knocked the wind out of him, but he managed to keep his feet. Pope wasn't so lucky. He was thrown off his feet, and several yards back down the hallway. Liam glanced at him for half a second, and then back at the woman, who hadn't moved. She still stood there with her left hand raised towards them, though the flesh and clothing around her right shoulder was ripped away, revealing a dull metallic surface. There was also a dull ringing sound coming from her.

Liam stood there for several moments, before he slowly lowered the hammer on his 1911. He removed his left hand from the weapon, and raised it gently into the air. He slowly lowered the weapon, and smiled.

"You must be Paige."

She nodded, lowering her hand.

"And you're Liam."

He nodded, holstering his weapon.

"Who's the idiot?" she asked, slowly moving close, and pointing at Pope, who had just regained his fee.

"Pope." the younger man said. "Ouch."

Paige shrugged.

"Sorry, but in all fairness, I did warn ya. Vibranium, ya know?" she asked, knocking on her chest, which thudded metallically. "Bullet hits me and I direct all the kinetic energy back as a shockwave. Not a bad way ta be bulletproof."

Liam nodded approvingly, and Pope slid his weapon back into his holster.

"Point of interest? It's not a good idea to look like you're pulling a weapon when two Rangers have their sidearms trained on you. Just for future reference." Pope said.

Paige nodded, a hint of a smile crossing her face, the skin around her mouth and nose cracking, revealing the metal underneath.

"I'll keep that in mind." she said. "Is there someplace I can finish this?"

She pointed at her shoulder with a hand that was showing metal at every joint and crack.

"Yeah. Sure. Stairs are right over there, elevator's on the other side." Pope said, pointing. "You've pretty much got your choice of rooms. Liam and I are the second and third floors, respectively. End of the hall on your left. You've got a private bathroom with a tub in each room, and the showers are in the long room on the back wall, so you should be good to go. If you need anything, just hit the intercom."

She nodded, and bent down to pick up her bag.

"Thanks." she said, heading off for the stairs, bits of skin flaking away as she moved.

After she'd disappeared up the staircase, Pope moved closer to Liam.

"I'm not sure whether that was really repulsive, or really arousing."

Liam chuckled and turned back to the War Room.

"How about we settle on arousingly repulsive? Come on, Speck. Let's finish our dinner and get back to planning." Liam said, clapping the younger man on the shoulder. "The other members of our team will be here soon. We need to be ready to go. We've got a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in."


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter One****  
****Slane Castle, County Meath, Ireland****  
****February 16, 0700 hours (local time)**

After spending all of Valentine's Day in the airport, and then a seven hour flight over the Atlantic, plus an hour in customs, it felt good to be out on the open road. Granted, Emma had gotten him a first class ticket into Dublin, but six hours in a plane to anywhere was a long time, no matter how nice the accommodations. Liam sat in the driver seat of a black Audi Q7. He'd wanted a truck of some sort, but the closest the rental company had been able to get him was a luxury SUV.

As he sped along the highway towards his new home, he was thankful for the car's heater. The car's digital dashboard told him that the outside temperature was near thirty degrees Fahrenheit, and the wind chill was down into the twenties. Liam almost regretted nearing his destination, since it meant that he'd have to leave his cocoon of warmth and soft Pogues music. He made a left onto his new drive, and had to smile a little when the tires of the SUV threw gravel into the undercarriage. There was something about skidding across the ground in a luxury vehicle that was perversely pleasing.

He slowed to a stop at the heavy iron gates that were set into the tall stone wall that surrounded the castle, and pulled out his cell phone.

"Pope." came the answer to his call.

"Hey. It's Kynde. I'm at the gate."

"Wait one, Sarge." Pope said, hanging up without saying goodbye.

A few seconds later, the gate rumbled open, and Liam drove down the sloping drive towards the castle's front door. As he pulled up and shut off the SUV's engine, Thomas Pope opened the door, and smiled. He wore a pair of faded jeans and a thick thermal shirt with heavy boots. Strapped to his left thigh was a tactical holster, holding a matte black Colt 1911, and an M4 carbine hung off of his shoulder.

"Goddamned good to see you, Sarge." Pope said, coming down the front steps as Liam stepped out of the car into the biting cold wind.

"What the fuck, Specialist?" Liam asked, gesturing to Pope's medium length hair. "What? Are you a fuckin' hippie now?"

"That's fuckin' Sergeant to you, Sarge. Got my buck stripes just before I got out." Pope said, opening his arms wide and letting his weapon swing free.

Liam wrapped his arms around Pope, clapping him on the back.

"Congratu –fuckin'-lations, Fuckin' Sarge Junior. I always knew you'd wind up taking my spot one day, but you'll always be a Speck to me."

Pope snorted and pulled back, both men heading for the rear of the vehicle to unload Liam's bags.

"At ease that fuckin' noise. Take your job and have to put up with snot nosed Privates and Specks like me all fuckin' day? Fuck that shit." Pope chuckled.

Liam opened the rear of the Audi and reached inside, grabbing one bag, and handed it to Pope. He grabbed the other bag and the wooden box that Emma had left him. He closed the back of the vehicle, and followed Pope up the steps to the large oak front doors.

"Well, we're pretty much set up here, Sarge. All the construction you wanted is done. Gym, firing range, fully stocked armory, war room, dorms. The works." Pope said. "Wireless is set, and covers the whole structure. Tech room is insane. You've gotta see it. Only thing we're waiting on is transport."

Liam followed the younger Ranger into the castle, and took a look around. He stood in a grand hall, which had been partially demolished and refinished. Where the ground floor of the castle had once housed only a grand hall, ballroom, and feast hall, it now held an indoor gym, with weight and cardio machines of every kind. On the other side of the gym was a floor to ceiling concrete wall, on the other side of which was an indoor firing range. Four towers cornered the building, holding a kitchen, dining room, research center, and armory. The second and third floors had been converted into dorms, with eight rooms each, and each room was designed for permanent occupancy of eight people, though each room was large enough to sleep well over double that number.

"Place looks good, Pope. Really good."

Pope smirked at him.

"You expected less?"

Liam shook his head.

"Not really."

"Come on. I'll show you to your room. Sorry, it isn't much. I wasn't expecting you for another month, but it should do for what you need." Pope said, heading left, towards a thick set of stone stairs. "I'd imagine you're looking forward to a nap."

Liam nodded.

"Jet lag's a bitch."

Slane Castle, County Meath, Ireland  
February 16, 1826 hours

Liam and Pope sat in the war room, each eating an MRE. Pope had yet to stock the kitchen fully, and so they'd decided to share a meal of MREs for the evening, rather than driving back into town for food. Both men held their plastic spoons in one hand and their pack of spaghetti with meat sauce in the other, eating in silence. Neither one used the chemical warmer for their food, preferring it cold. One of the things trained into them in Ranger School had been light, noise, and head discipline, and so most Rangers, even when given the option, chose to eat their MREs cold, often stating that the heated entrées tasted funny when warmed.

Both men sat on the edge of the, hunched over the world map projected onto the table. They had a map of Buenos Aires, Argentina zoomed in, and were considering entry and exit strategies for the team's first potential mission. They were going to attack an old Purifier stronghold that had been taken over by a relatively small local mutant hating group. Of course, this would happen sometime in the next month, since Cessily and Megan still had to receive their instructions and travel to the castle.

"So what do you think, Sarge? We've only got one squad. It's gonna be tough getting in without any coverage." Pope said, finishing his spaghetti and placing the empty pack back into the larger MRE bag. "Divide and conquer? Hit them from multiple angles simultaneously?"

Liam smiled and shook his head, setting his empty packet aside and taking a drink of water.

"We've got some of the best students I've ever trained coming in. This'll be child's play. You'll see." he said. "As far as insertion, I've got something a little more fun in mind. How are your airborne skills holding up, now that you're out?"

"Airborne's kinda hard to screw up. Like falling off of a bike, right?" Pope said, grinning. "Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door. Jump right out and count to four."

Liam opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a female voice echoing down the hallway towards them.

"Hello?"

Both men's hands automatically went to their sidearms, which was one of the things that Liam had insisted on, now that he was away from the school. It was nice to be armed at all times again. Before the echo faded, Liam had pulled one of the two brand new Colt 1911 pistols that Emma had sent him off with from its holster, and Pope held a Beretta 92F. They both moved quickly across the room, towards the gym, which the front door opened onto. Moving one at a time, they crept down the hallway towards the gym, weapons raised and ready. Just before he stepped into the gym, Liam saw a young blonde woman step into the gym area, looking around with a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

"Stop. Don't move." Liam called, aiming carefully down the top rail of his weapon.

She froze, but turned her head slowly to look at him. From beneath the low pulled brim of her battered black cowboy hat her blue eyes fixed him with a disinterested stare. She wore a light brown coat, jeans, and a long sleeved shirt.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Nice to meet ya too." she said, raising one hand. "Ya don't want to shoot those."

"What are you doing here, girl? I won't ask again." Liam said.

She sighed and slid her bag off of her shoulder with her free hand. She let it drop to the floor, and then reached behind herself. Liam heard the report of Pope's Beretta just before he felt the shockwave hit him in the chest. It knocked the wind out of him, but he managed to keep his feet. Pope wasn't so lucky. He was thrown off his feet, and several yards back down the hallway. Liam glanced at him for half a second, and then back at the woman, who hadn't moved. She still stood there with her left hand raised towards them, though the flesh and clothing around her right shoulder was ripped away, revealing a dull metallic surface. There was also a dull ringing sound coming from her.

Liam stood there for several moments, before he slowly lowered the hammer on his 1911. He removed his left hand from the weapon, and raised it gently into the air. He slowly lowered the weapon, and smiled.

"You must be Paige."

She nodded, lowering her hand.

"And you're Liam."

He nodded, holstering his weapon.

"Who's the idiot?" she asked, slowly moving close, and pointing at Pope, who had just regained his fee.

"Pope." the younger man said. "Ouch."

Paige shrugged.

"Sorry, but in all fairness, I did warn ya. Vibranium, ya know?" she asked, knocking on her chest, which thudded metallically. "Bullet hits me and I direct all the kinetic energy back as a shockwave. Not a bad way ta be bulletproof."

Liam nodded approvingly, and Pope slid his weapon back into his holster.

"Point of interest? It's not a good idea to look like you're pulling a weapon when two Rangers have their sidearms trained on you. Just for future reference." Pope said.

Paige nodded, a hint of a smile crossing her face, the skin around her mouth and nose cracking, revealing the metal underneath.

"I'll keep that in mind." she said. "Is there someplace I can finish this?"

She pointed at her shoulder with a hand that was showing metal at every joint and crack.

"Yeah. Sure. Stairs are right over there, elevator's on the other side." Pope said, pointing. "You've pretty much got your choice of rooms. Liam and I are the second and third floors, respectively. End of the hall on your left. You've got a private bathroom with a tub in each room, and the showers are in the long room on the back wall, so you should be good to go. If you need anything, just hit the intercom."

She nodded, and bent down to pick up her bag.

"Thanks." she said, heading off for the stairs, bits of skin flaking away as she moved.

After she'd disappeared up the staircase, Pope moved closer to Liam.

"I'm not sure whether that was really repulsive, or really arousing."

Liam chuckled and turned back to the War Room.

"How about we settle on arousingly repulsive? Come on, Speck. Let's finish our dinner and get back to planning." Liam said, clapping the younger man on the shoulder. "The other members of our team will be here soon. We need to be ready to go. We've got a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in."

**Chapter Two****  
****75km above ground, Casement Aerodrome, County Dublin, Ireland****  
****February 20, 0407 hours**

**The roar of the four jet engines of the US Army's AC-230J "Nightmare" gunship had echoed loudly in the bulkheads of the bomb bay as the craft lifted off the ground at the Casement Aerodrome, but now it wasn't so bad. Just a loud drone in the background. Pope had hitched them a ride on a HALO airborne, or High Altitude Low Opening paratrooper, training mission early in the day, to test out the present that had arrived two days ago. Liam had called in a rather big favor the night he'd left, putting in a call to Jubilee back in LA, who passed his message on to Tony Stark. He'd asked for whatever influence he had with Nick Fury or S.H.I.E.L.D. to see if he could pick up a few castoff H.A.W.K. harnesses. Stark had done him one better. Two days later, a set of ten brand new Stark Industries Mark VIII H.A.W.K. systems. Instead of getting some old used High Altitude Wing Kites, he'd gotten brand new, nearly fully automated, intercontinental ballistic combat insertion systems. **

**At the moment, he, Pope, and Paige all sat in the bomb bay of the ship, along with the ordnance master, an Irish Captain named Kennedy. They all wore the Kevlar/Nomex flight suit that housed the internal systems for the H.A.W.K., with three open and waiting egg shaped technological cocoons in front of them. **

**"Are ye girls ready?" Kennedy asked. **

**Pope nodded, and slid his form fitting gloves on.**

**"You first then, Padre." Kennedy said, reaching for **

** He attached the breathing hoses of Pope's onboard O2 system to the cocoon, and helped the Ranger slide himself in. As he moved into place, the top of the cocoon lowered into place, sealing him inside an oval shaped vessel.**

**"Yer next, sweetheart." he said, reaching for Paige's hands.**

**She turned to face Liam, and frowned at him. **

**"I don't like flying." she said. "I'm a down to earth kind of girl."**

**"And we love that about you, but you've gotta get in. We're nearing the drop point." he said, zipping his suit up.**

**"You don't understand. I really don't like flying." **

**"Ye won't be flyin', sweetheart. Just fallin' fer a bit. Then ye glide. No actual flight to it." Kennedy said, handing her gloves to her.**

**"No, you morons! I can't do this. I'm an earthy type of girl. I work the earth, and I live off of the earth, and I'm not riding this thing out of this plane." she shouted, as Kennedy lowered Liam into his own cocoon. **

**"Suit yourself. Pope and I are going for the ride of a lifetime. If you don't ride yours, Jumpmaster Kennedy there is going to push you out of the plane with the rest of the trainees in the cargo bay, and they don't have any spare parachutes." Liam said as his cocoon began to close. "So get with it. Either come with us or learn to fly the hard way."**

**Kennedy stared at Paige for a long moment. **

**"He's not wrong, sweetheart. Ye can fly with him, or fall with me boys in the cargo hold. Your choice." he said, shrugging.**

**She glanced at the waiting cocoon, and then back at Kennedy. His expression didn't change.**

**"Goddammit." she muttered, reaching for Kennedy's hand.**

**Inside his cocoon, Liam felt the bomb bay doors sliding open, the hydraulics whirring loudly. His vision was divided up by his HUD. The upper left corner of his vision held two smaller screens, one of Pope, grinning like an idiot in his pod, the other of Paige, clenching her eyes shut. His view was one of a clear night sky, flying high above the clouds, the vision being transmitted by the cocoon's nose camera. The upper right hand corner of his vision held time, airspeed, altitude, and compass heading, and the lower right held a small computer display of his cocoon hanging in the bomb bay. As the cocoons were lowered into place for launch, Liam felt several jolts, and then the vibration of the wind ripping around the skin of his cocoon.**

**The blinking red words "WARNING: LAUNCH IMMINENT!" and an alarm in his ear told him that the pods were about to be released. His body tensed involuntarily, as there were several clanks above from brakes and safety mechanisms releasing.**

**"You two ready?" he asked. **

**"Ready as ever, Sarge." Pope said, smiling.**

**"I hate you, Liam. You owe me." Paige said, her eyes still crunched shut. **

**Liam chuckled. **

**"Don't worry." he said, as the docking clamps released. "I'll cook you dinner."**

**As his cocoon exited the bomb bay, it began to tumble through the sky, slowly finding it's equilibrium, falling like a rock until it managed to turn right side up. Liam now lay on his back, though he was actually weightless at the moment, falling towards the ground at nearly three hundred miles per hour. Though he couldn't feel it, Stark's Extremis technology was rapidly changing the shape of the cocoon's outer hull, forming itself into a more wing like shape, and retracting to reveal the pod's engine exhaust port. **

**Another warning and alarm, "WARNING: BRACE FOR IMPACT!" sounded, and the craft's rocket booster ignited with a roar, slamming Liam down into the padded seat that he occupied. The craft sped away from the launching gunship, up higher and higher, until it reached the edges of the Karman line, just inside the boundary of space, and held steady. He glanced up at Paige and Pope. Pope's face was a mask of pure joy, and though Liam couldn't hear him over the engines, he was pretty sure the younger man was laughing. Paige, however, was screaming. He couldn't hear her either, but he could tell. **

**"Computer."**

**"Jarvis here, Sir. Operating at peak levels. How may I assist you?" the computer said/displayed on the HUD.**

**"I want you to display subtitles of my speech on Paige's screen. Can you do that?"**

**"Of course, sir. One moment...link established. You may speak when ready."**

**"Paige." Liam said, and a small subtitle of his speech appeared across the bottom of her screen. "Paige! Listen to me."**

**He didn't receive any response, and so he sighed, glancing up at the timer display that showed how much longer there was on his rocket propelled journey across the sky. Fifteen seconds. In fifteen seconds, the rocket booster would shut down, and all three pods would be in a gravity drawn, computer controlled reentry glide, somewhere over North America. **

**"Jarvis, do me a favor and mute her comms before the engines shut down, and then set an alarm to get her attention. On second thought, mute both their comms."**

**"Consider it done, sir."**

**Liam tried to relax, as the countdown continued, and as it reached zero, the noise abruptly vanished. He felt the weightless feeling return, but it faded quickly as his body readjusted to normal G forces again. **

**"Unmute them, Jarvis."**

**Audio slowly filled Liam's helmet, and he heard Pope trying to calm Paige down, and much reduced volume screaming. **

**"Paige. Paige! Jeezus. Shut the hell up."**

**"You can mute her comms, Speck." Liam said. **

**"Oh...right. Um, computer? Do that."**

Liam sighed.

"Jarvis, can you shut down her helmet systems?"

"Of course, sir."

"Good. Do it, leave it dark for five seconds, and then reactivate, along with audio."

Paige's small window in his view went dark, and when it came back up, she was sniffling, but had at least stopped screaming. Her eyes were darting around rapidly, scanning her HUD.

"Are you better, Paige?" Liam asked.

She nodded, still sniffling.

"I hate you. Oh, God , do I hate you." she said.

"I know. You'll love me later though. Just enjoy the glide. We're crossing back over Denmark as we speak. We'll be releasing soon." Liam said.

"Sarge, you've gotta call Stark and thank him for these toys. This is crazy." Pope said.

"Yeah. I need to remember to write him a lovely thank you note." Liam chuckled. "Now, from what I understand, these exterior frames are going to break away in sections, and then guide themselves back to base. When they break away, though, it's gonna get rough. The aerodynamics are going to change, and so we'll be flipped over pretty fast."

"Roger that, Sarge. Jarvis? System check? Are we ready for this?"

"Affirmative, sir." Came Jarvis' voice over their intercoms. "All systems are prepared for release in two minutes."

Paige let out a frustrated growl, and for a half a second the sound reminded Liam of Laura.

"Jarvis, I don't suppose there's any way I can talk ya inta just gliding me back ta the castle in this thing, is there sweetie?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not, ma'am. The fuel stores required to do that have already been depleted." Jarvis said, sounding very contrite. "Please prepare for helmet assembly."

Liam heard several whirs and clicks and a form fitting helmet was assembled around his head, just like armor he'd seen Stark use back in LA. A hiss and an electronic beep, and the helmet sealed to his suit, encasing him in a pressurized environment. The blackness that surrounded him was claustrophobic for a moment, but then the surface in front of his face shimmered, and the HUD he'd been looking at in the craft appeared again.

"Cool." he muttered as the upper canopy flashed a warning ahead of him.

Red lights blinked in an ever increasing pattern, until they just glowed brightly.

"Launching in three, two, one..." Jarvis' voice said calmly.

Liam felt the cocoon around him dissolving rapidly, and suddenly it was gone, and he was hurtling through the sky in total freefall, buffeted by the cold morning air. He flipped over onto his stomach, and assumed the classic skydiver's pose, glancing around and finding Pope and Paige falling through the darkness with the help of his HUD. Ten seconds later, Jarvis spoke again.

"Deploying H.A.W.K. system in three...two...one..."

Liam tightened his body into a rigid line, arms straight above his head, legs straight behind, as if he were diving into a pool. He felt the wings of the H.A.W.K. rip free of their seams along his ribs, spreading to catch the air he was rushing through, forming him into a self contained aerial combat system. He flexed his arms, forcing them down just a little bit, and he slowed considerably.

He heard two pairs of voices on his comms, both toned down, and he was grateful for the fact that Jarvis was an intelligent system. Listening to Pope whoop and holler all the way to the ground would've gotten old. Paige was whispering to herself, muttering something about murder and death, and not throwing up.

He blinked into his HUD, and Paige and Pope appeared as two floating blips on his screen, off to the right and far below. He loosened the muscles in his right arm, letting the wing on that side go slack just a little bit, and the left side of his body shot skyward, banking him hard to the right. He spiraled downward through the sky, and came up flying parallel to Paige, who was cutting through the pre-dawn air like a knife through...well, air. She kept her body rigidly straight, unmoving. Liam glided over slowly, bringing his wing tips next to hers.

"Paige. Coming up on your left." he said. "Relax. Don't forget to breathe."

He saw her glance over at him and wobble as her body position shifted, before she reverted to the diving position.

"Look, Paige, there's no hurry, okay. We're going to be flying like this for a good ten minutes." he said. "If you go on flying straight like that, you're going to overshoot the whole country, and skip off the Atlantic like a river rock. You've gotta spill off some speed. I want you to loosen the muscles in your left arm. Sort of clench your body to the left. Let that wing go just a little loose, and then freeze. You're gonna bank to your left, and I'm gonna come with you, okay?"

He could hear her breathing hard inside her faceless helmet.

"Okay." she said softly.

She flexed both of her hands, and then let her left arm loosen just a fraction of an inch, flexing her oblique abdominals and lower back, and came soaring towards him. He gave way, and for several long seconds they listed to the left together.

"See? Not too bad, right? Now look up at your HUD. The numbers up at the top are your course heading, right? Come about to 300 degrees, and straighten up, and you'll be on course for home."

"Alright." she said, her voice a little more steady.

She continued turning to her left, and Liam kept giving way, as Pope joined up with them, cruising along on her right side. As she passed the heading of 200, she slowed her banking turn, and gradually tightened her body and arm, resulting in a straight course on precisely 300 degrees.

"Out-freakin'-standing, soldier." Pope said, grinning beneath his helmet.

"Shut up, Pope. You owe me for this too."

Pope straightened both arms down to his sides and snapped off a salute, falling away with no lift from his loosely fluttering wings.

"Sir, yes, sir!" he chuckled, resuming his flight.

Liam shook his head, and flew on with Paige.

"Take it easy, Pope. Okay, Paige. Here in about ninety seconds, we're going to start using our repulsors to slow us down." he said. "There are sensors in your gloves that will trigger them. Just spread your fingers wide and they'll fire. You'll be pushed upwards and backwards, slowing you down significantly. Just keep your body rigid and your head straight and you'll be fine."

"Heh. That's what [i]she[/i] said." Pope's voice laughed from somewhere below.

"At ease that noise, Speck." Liam said, letting a hint of anger edge its way into his voice.

"Sorry, Sarge." Pope said.

"Okay, Paige. Are you ready?"

"Maybe." she muttered.

"Good enough. Countdown from five to one, and on zero, you flex, right? Five, four, three, two, one, go."

At the same time Liam and Paige flexed their fingers, spreading their hands wide, and the repulsors mounted in their gloves, jackets, belts, pants, and boots all fired, slowing their decent considerably. To Liam, it felt like a gentle push, considering the last H.A.W.K. he'd used felt like a kick to the chest. He was glad that Stark's technology advanced as fast as it did. He hated having to hoof it after a H.A.W.K. landing.

He scanned the horizon, and found his waypoint indicator. It was centered over the castle, though Liam couldn't see the building itself. He let his body relax, and he began dropping down beneath Paige.

"Wait! Where are you going?" she shouted, watching him fall, her smooth helmet angled towards him.

"We've gotta get lower. We're coming up on the castle. We should be there in about a minute and a half. We've gotta lose some altitude. Follow me." he said.

She slowly began descending after him, and Pope rose to meet them, all three of them eventually darting through the sky in a loose formation.

"Okay. When we get down below one hundred meters, the repulsors are gonna fire automatically. Computer radar is going to guide us in, carrying us just above the trees." Liam said. "Right, Jarvis?"

"That's correct, sir, although the landing procedures has changed for this model of the H.A.W.K. harness. No longer is the, ah, "punch out" method advised. At approximately ten meters, a final burst of repulsors will slow you to stall speed and tilt you vertically, though you must stay straight throughout the procedure. As you stall, boot mounted repulsors will fire, lowering you to the ground." Jarvis said. "A much less painful method of landing, I'm told."

"See? Nothing to it, you two. Just watch me, and you'll do just fine." Liam said. "Straighten up, fly right. See you on the ground."

He straightened his arms, and his wings tightened up, sending him gliding away from the other two. As he hit treetop level, he was dimly aware of pine branches brushing his stomach as he cruised over them. Seemingly random bursts of repulsors kept him flying inches above the trees, without smashing into any of them. He finally cleared the forest around the castle, and saw its lights illuminating the entire front lawn. He was coming up quickly, and he tightened his body in preparation for the final burn. Sure enough, as his HUD's altimeter hit ten meters, all the repulsors on the suit fired, and his arms rose upwards as his boots began to sink. As he began falling feet first, he lowered his arms, and all wing lift dissipated as he floated gently to the ground. He hit with some forward momentum, and jogged to a stop, turning around to see the other two land.

Pope came in fast, probably intentionally, and hit the ground running, tumbling twice but bounding quickly to his feet, jogging off the rest of his speed. Paige came in smoothly, gliding in as if on guide wires. She flipped vertical, and set down like a rock, leaving a nice crater in the ground.

Liam reached up and pressed the release catch on his helmet, and it's faceplate swung up and back, revealing his face. He walked forward to where Paige hunched with her hands on her knees.

"You did great, Paige. Best first time landing I've ever seen." he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You landed kinda hard, though. What happened? Did your repulsors cut out too soon?"

She reached up and pressed the release on her helmet, and her face came into view, her flesh peeling to reveal a brightly shiny metallic face. She scowled at him, and looked back at the ground.

"I husked. Just as the repulsors cut out. Force of habit."

Liam shrugged, patting her shoulder comfortingly.

"No big deal. Don't worry. It happens. The more you do it, the more you'll get used to it." he said as Pope approached, his helmet under one arm.

With that, she opened her mouth and threw up all over his boots, the silvery fluid just as bright as her skin in the early morning light. Pope started laughing, and wound up literally rolling on the ground in hysterics. Paige took several deep breaths, and straightened up.

"Don't worry. It happens. The more I do it, the more you'll get used to it." She said, smiling and walking towards the castle, leaving Liam standing there, at a complete loss.


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three****  
****Slane Castle, County Meath, Ireland****  
****March 14, 1445 hours**

**BOOM!**

**Dirt flew into the air like a wave, crashing down around Liam, chunks pelting his battle suit. He ducked around the explosion, and launched another blast of telekinetic energy, making another explosion of soil blossom from the ground as it hit the ground near Pope's feet, throwing the running man through the air. He wore a suit identical to Liam's, all ballistic plate mail and hardened Kevlar jacketing. The only difference was that his suit's trim was green instead of red like Liam's. **

**"Close, but no cigar, Sarge." Pope said, rolling to his feet and bringing his HK 416 carbine to bear. **

**Several paintball training rounds exited the barrel, and slammed into Liam's chest. He stopped where he was, and raised both hands, placing them on his head. Pope took his hand off of the pistol grip of the weapon, and raised it, open, as a sign of safety. He let the rifle away from his shoulder, and pulled the barrel plug off of his belt, sliding into place on the weapon as he flicked the selector switch from semi to safe.**

**Liam walked forward, letting his powers dissipate slowly. He'd had them charged up so tightly that they formed tight bonds to his jacket, and took several moments to fade away, looking like slowly dripping water as they did. **

**"Not bad at all, Sarge." Pope said, slinging his weapon over one shoulder. "You would've had me if you'd been operating at full power." **

**Liam nodded, pulling off his armored facemask. **

**"Yeah. That last blast would probably have smeared anybody else." he agreed.**

**"Can I stop being dead yet? Please?" Paige called from several meters away, where she lay on the ground, propped up against a tree. **

**"Sure, sure. Come on over, Cranky Pants." Pope called. **

**Liam chuckled. In the last few weeks Paige and Pope had become friends, however unlikely that might be. The team had been training hard over the last month. Paige on conventional weaponry, Liam on his powers, and Pope on ways to get around both sets of powers. They'd made themselves into a decent unit, one which knew it's own weaknesses and how to cover them. Liam was proud. **

**"Do you two hear that?" Paige asked as she approached. **

**Both Liam and Pope froze, listening. At the edge of his hearing, just beneath the sound of the wind, Liam detected a faint tinkling sound. He'd heard it once before, in the woods around the Mansion back in New York, on a training session with his Junior class. **

**"What is that?" Pope asked. **

**"I dunno." Paige said. **

**"I do." Liam said, glancing around. "That's our newest recruit. Don't breathe the pink dust."**

**Paige and Pope glanced at each other, and then back at Liam. **

**"Trust me." he said, still looking around. "Where are you, Megan?" **

**A giggle and a soft poof off to the right spun them all around, but a cloud of sparkly pink dust was all they found. Liam turned around quickly, and managed to catch a glimpse of pink and black hair vanishing into another cloud. As he turned one final time, a burst of pink glittery smoke enveloped all three of them. Pope let out a yelp, and Liam heard his weapon fire, though the barrel plug stopped the round. Paige darted back, as did Liam, but the burst of smoke had made him reflexively gasp. He'd gotten a lungful of Megan's hallucinogenic pixie dust. As the smoke began to clear, Megan's face came into view, just as the ground began rolling beneath Liam's feet. **

**"Oooh! Shit! Sorry, boss." Megan said, just as Liam hit the ground and darkness overtook him. **


End file.
